In what is a deeply political issue, Popovich sounded the populist tone of “a pox on both their houses” in a well spoken way. (And I fully agree with him on the broad point, having long thought Washington is about people fighting what they see as a zero-sum game for power and any policy, whether you like it or hate it, is just a byproduct of the fight.)

“We talk about a lot of things with the team. We haven’t gotten really specific with the shutdown… Most foreigners think we’re pretty silly, and they’re correct. It’s children fighting over their toys, so to speak. It’s got nothing to do with the public or what’s good for the country. It’s about winning and losing, and that doesn’t do any of us much good. Hopefully they’re going to get to some sort of agreement in the next couple of days that might be good for the American people.

“It’s funny how each of them talks about what the American people want. The leaders from one side, they talk and say ‘The American People want…’ How the hell do these people know what they want? They live in a fishbowl. And then the other side says the same thing. It’s kind of comical, if it wasn’t so dramatically devastating for so many people.”